01/08/06

Genée International Ballet competition 2006, Hong Kong

The competition will take place from 26 August – 3 September marking the first time that this competition has ever been held in the city.  The event will also be marked by two special guest performances from the National Ballet of China and Hong Kong Ballet, which is sure to thrill the audience. Dr Stanley Ho, lead sponsor of this year’s competition stated;

“The holding of the 2006 competition in Hong Kong will again acknowledge the great international appeal of ballet, and will attract many of the world’s best young dancers. It is an honour and a pleasure for me to sponsor the 2006 Genée International Ballet Competition staged here to celebrate the Golden Jubilee of the founding, in 1956, of Royal Academy of Dance in Hong Kong.”

Adding to the excitement of this milestone sell-out event, acclaimed young choreographer Yuri Ng; himself a former Geneé gold medalist (1983), has agreed to create two exclusive variations (male and female) for the competition which will be premiered during the Semi-finals.  Yuri believes that the competition is a great opportunity not only for developing young dancers but to raise the profile of dance;

“We can use the Genée International Ballet Competition to push standards higher.  I will be choreographing one male and one female variation, each less than two minutes long, and it will certainly challenge them”

The Genée is a demanding competition and attracts the finest young ballet dancers aged

14 – 19 years old from all over the world. It offers a unique opportunity to work with and learn from world-renowned teachers and choreographers and also the chance to dance on the best international stages.  The competitors will spend three days in intensive coaching sessions with Lynn Wallis, the Academy’s Artistic Director and choreographer Christopher Hampson, before competing in the Semi-finals on Thursday, 31 August and Friday, 1 September. They will then perform in front of a panel of distinguished judges comprising of the Academy’s President, Dame Antoinette Sibley, Executive Director and Artistic Director of the National Ballet of China, Madam Zhao Ruheng and Artistic Director designate of Hong Kong Ballet, John Meehan. The judges will select a short-list of finalists to compete for a coveted medal in the Final on Sunday, 3 September.  The audience will also be given the chance to vote for their preferred performer. Sponsored by Sotheby’s Hong Kong, the Audience Award will be awarded to the candidate who, in the eyes of the audience, most deserves to win and receives a specially struck medal.

The Genée International Ballet Competition has a strong heritage and many past winners have become professional dancers, choreographers, directors and teachers with companies all over the world including Hong Kong’s Flora Cheong- Leen.  Flora, now a house hold name in China, won a silver medal in 1975 and remembers the competition as;

“the best experience….I am proud to have the competition in Hong Kong for the first time.  It is important for dancers in the Far East to participate in this most meaningful and prestigious international competition in Hong Kong.”

The first Genée International Ballet Competition took place in London in 1931 and has taken place almost every year since.  The Competition was first held outside of the UK in 2002 at the Sydney Opera House, Australia and in 2004 travelled to Athens as part of the Cultural Olympiad’s activities leading to the 2004 Olympics.